From Cannes: "Dheepan" Oppressive, Nuanced

Explicit symbolism of confinement is rampant throughout "Dheepan," a brooding drama about a former Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger seeking political asylum in France. Accompanied by a false wife and daughter, the titular Dheepan (Antonythasan Jesuthasan) is trapped serving as the caretaker for a run-down housing complex until he gains citizenship. The dark, narrow corridors of the apartment buildings are an ironic setting of imprisonment for the former freedom fighter—indeed, Dheepan's only place of refuge is not the cramped ground-floor apartment he shares with his faux-family but a dimly lit utility room in the basement where he can drink and smoke in peace. Even the neighborhood's drug-running thugs feel stifled, as one gang leader says bitterly to Dheepan's wife—under house arrest and restrained by a security anklet, he is morbidly aware that he will likely end up dead, just like his father and uncle before him.

Director Jacques Audiard makes skillful use of lighting throughout the film and in certain shots encapsulates characters in a suffocating darkness. His regular utilization of fade outs in between scenes further contributes to the film's foreboding, contemplative mood. In a performance that aptly captures his character's military background, Jesuthasan exudes a deliberate, toned-down blankness that only hints at the tumultuous emotion underneath. Although he is an outsider to this squalid, crime-ridden French suburb, Dheepan is captivated by a newfound desire to recreate a family to replace the one he lost during the war—and instead of having to illegally hawk two euro trinkets on the streets of Paris, now even a part time job in this neighborhood pays the unthinkably high sum of 500 Euros. It's this dream of freedom that propels Dheepan to extraordinary lengths to protect his wife and daughter, even if they themselves aren't entirely convinced by the charade. He is forced to take decisive action when a visit from a former war comrade brings the violence of his past into his new life, and things are further complicated when escalating tension between the neighborhood gangs threatens his much sought-after stability. The script, from Audiard and co-writers Noé Debré and Thomas Bidegain, does an excellent job of slowly unraveling Dheepan's tough shell throughout this turmoil to expose a genuinely caring family man.

The action scenes are mostly limited to the third act, and Audiard executes them with extreme delicacy—the film, after all, is a slow-burn exploration of Dheepan's attempted post-war redemption. The few moments of violence in the film are appropriately tense and as jarring to watch as they are to the characters experiencing them. Dheepan's wife occasionally speaks of escaping to England away from this barbarism—to a promised land, so to speak—but by the film's end, it's unclear whether such paradise is deserved and truly within reach or merely the stuff of their fantasies.

—Staff writer Alan R. Xie can be reached at alan.xie@thecrimson.com.